8 Common Problems with Growing Passion Fruits

It’s disappointing when you don’t seem to get the results being hyped about, and when you’re disappointed you get less and less enthused about keeping at it.

It helps to know that you’re not alone:

Like with personal problems, passion fruit growing problems are widespread. There are so many Agribusiness entrepreneurs and gardeners out there but very few who get any success. Only 2% of the lot get any meaningful returns on their investment.

And when they do, it’s through sheer hard work and determination. Plus tips from the pros, of course.

To help you join the 2%, here are:

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8 Common problems with growing passion fruits and how to overcome them

Most of the problems you face in your orchard, some of them listed here, can be attributed to poor vine nutrition.

Just like us, without proper nutrition our bodies might not be able to fight diseases - exposing us to a myriad of problems.

It's not different with plants.

Solve your plant nutrition puzzle and more than half of the problems are solved.

It's more or less like arming your plants so that when a problem arises, they can fight for themselves.

Before we dig in on some of the problems, I wanted to let you in on a secret being used by many passion fruit orchard experts across the globe.

1. Passion fruit vine produces fruit but there is no juice just soft seeds inside.

There are several reasons why the passion fruits may lack the necessary juice. In this case, it might be that the vine may not have received enough water or nutrients during the growing period.

Passion fruits are very hungry and thirsty so regular feeding and regular watering to keep the soil moist is key. Failure to provide these basic requirements could lead to fruit formation that lack juice content.

Similarly, most passion fruit vines start producing meaningful fruits from their second year especially under relatively colder conditions.

Therefore, getting the fruit quite early may also have an effect on the form as well.

2. The vines keep flowering but never set fruits

This can happen due to a number of reasons. The most common ones are; poor pollination due too high or too low temperature (optimum 20 – 35 degrees) or too much rain, boron deficiency, and extended period of gloomy weather or foggy.

In some instance the flowers may also drop off prematurely as a result of poor plant nutrition.

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3. Fruit keep dropping off the vine

That could be as a result of irregular watering. It could also be a result of fungal infection, fruit fly or severe mite damage.

The fruit can also be dropped if the weather suddenly turns cold or the plant lacks water. Pest insects such as passion fruit vine hopper feeding on the vine can also lead to fruit drop. Watch out for these insects while they are young. Check and correct accordingly.

The other common reason why passion fruit drop their fruits is when they're lacking trace elements. The plant doesn't have the resources to support fruit production so it drops them to conserve energy for the main plant.

You can buy trace element supplements and feed your vines accordingly since passion fruit need a lot of feeding.

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4. The leaves of the vines turning yellow (chlorosis)

Passion fruit vine leaves yellowing (chlorosis)

It could be a sign that your vines have been infected by passion fruit woodiness virus. Secondly, it could be as a result of Magnesium deficiency, Nitrogen deficiency on sandy soil, or extremely cold weather combined with low humidity.

The vines turning yellow due to nutrient deficiency manifests itself differently depending on the stage of the leaves growth.

For instance, if the new leaves of your vines are having yellow veins, most times, a deficiency in Sulphur (S) or Copper is always evident.

However, if the yellowing affects areas between the veins, it is an indication of lack of sufficient Iron (Fe) or Molybdenum (Mo).

Yellowing of the older leaves especially between the veins is a sign of a deficiency in Magnesium. A fertilizer rich in Magnesium (Mg) is an appropriate remedy for this problem.

On the hand, yellowing of veins in the older leaves is a guaranteed sign of Nitrogen deficiency and should be corrected accordingly.

There are scenarios where both old and new leaves of your passion fruit vines turns yellow.

In such cases, lack of Zinc (Zn) is to blame.

Next time you experience yellowing of your vines, you’ll be able to diagnose the root cause and make the necessary correction.

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5. Passion fruit vine leaves turning yellow and crinkling.

Passion fruit leaves turning yellow and crinkling

The symptoms of yellowing and crinkling of the leaves on your passionfruit vine sounds like ‘Passionfruit woodiness viruses.1

Affected fruit can be small and deformed with an abnormally thick, hard rind and small pulp cavity. This disease is carried by aphids and most vines will be affected at some time or another.

Ensure that your vine is planted in a warm, sheltered spot to help reduce the incidence of this disease.

Symptoms can appear under stress in cool weather, or from lack of water or nutrients.

Affected vines cannot be cured however symptoms are temporary and vines can recover once the stresses are alleviated.

I am sure once you give your vine the warmth, moisture and nutrients it requires, it will soon recover and give you lots of delicious summer fruit.

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6. Fruits are bumpy or malformed

Bumpy passion fruits

Passion fruit woodiness virus could be the culprit, especially if leaves are yellow and mottled.

It could also happen because of Boron deficiency or Insect damage particularly fruit fly.

In the case of passion fruit woodiness virus, the fruits appears deformed, hard and bumpy. Once you notice these symptoms in your orchard, it’s better to get rid of the affected plants and spray against aphids that transmit the virus.

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7. Shrivelled fruits

Passion fruits shriveling before maturity

Shrivelling is normal for passion fruits especially after dropping on the ground when mature.

But, if this happens earlier, it could be caused by fruit fly damage, sucking bug damage, poor pollination, boron deficiency, and insufficient irrigation when a heavy crop is set.

Ensure that you give your vines appropriate nutrients for optimum and vigorous growth while watching out for pests and diseases.

If you do this your fruits will do just fine!

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8. Spots on the fruits and leaves

Spots on the fruits

Mostly caused by Brown Spot (Altanaria passiflora) but can also be caused by Septoria spot.

Brown is a serious fungous disease, which affects leaves, stems and fruit. The notable symptoms on leaves include, small brown spots appear first.

These enlarge, develop a lighter-colored central area, and become irregular or angular in shape.

On stems, elongated dark-brown lesions appear, usually near leaf axils or where stems have rubbed against the supporting wire.

Infection spreads from these points and whenever the stem becomes completely girdled the shoot suddenly wilts and fruits collapse.

On fruit, spots first appear as pinpricks, which enlarge into sunken circular lesions with brownish centres. Eventually the rind round the diseased area becomes wrinkled and the fruits shrivel and drop.

Conclusion

You’ve just read 8 common problems with growing passion fruits. Knowing what to do when they strike will give you enough confidence to forge forward.

The nice thing about farming or gardening is that you’re in total control of how successful you are. If you slack off, so will your results.

If you let small obstacles and problems to get into your way, it’s game over for you. If you get totally into what you’re doing and crush it, the sky’s the limit.

You can start taking control right now by claiming your free sample of the passion fruit farming course by clicking here (if you haven’t) or purchase the full course by clicking here.

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11 comments

Thanks for the info we are going to try epsom salts for our yellowing leaves on our passionfruit, it had really good fruit the first year then next year only a few and too dry, this year none so we will see what happens, Watch this space…..
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I contacted U about stopping suckers that grow from my passionfruit. Your comments did not resolve my issue . the plant grows well and produces plenty of fruit. My neighbour complains about the suckers andy way to stop them.

Hi Peter, Thanks for sharing your frustration with us. First and foremost, your vines producing more suckers is a normal thing. It shows that your plants are growing healthy. However, letting them grow as they please will take up a lot of nutrients from the plant thereby compromising the overall yield. Therefore, it’s important that you keep on desuckering as much as necessary.

If for whatever reason desuckering isn’t possible, you might want to take a more drastic approach and change your rootstalk in subsequent planting. Look for plants grafted onto a non-suckering rootstock. For instance P. edulis flavicarpa, which is also disease-resistant. Alternatively, grow passionfruit that have been grown from seed or cutting.

I have just started with a couple of passionfruit plants and while they are growing reasonably well the leaves are being attacked and eaten by something. AZny idea what would go after the leaves and how to stop this?

My passion flower is 2 years old and this is the second time I bring it inside during the winter months. The older leaves are turning brown on the tips, they curl and then fall. Is this some kind of disease? or could it be that I didn’t bring it inside in time and got some frost damage? Some new growth is appearing but it seems weak.

Hi, I posted a comment before but I don’t see it so I’m going to post it again. My apologies if it shows twice. I have a 2 year old passion flower vine and I brought it inside about a month ago for the winter. The older leaves are turning brown from the tip down and then they fall. Is this some type of disease? Or could it be that I didn’t bring it inside in time before it got too cold? It seems that there is some new growth from one of the stems but it seems weak.

Hello, We are in the middle of summer here. I have around 35 Sunshine Special Passionfruit vines 2-3 years old. They are going okay, some of the new flowers parts are coming out and turning yellow before the flower bulb gets big, they drop off then. Is there anything for this and can you fertilise and potash the plants at this stage. I have put potash on around a month ago.